New Sony (eBook) Reader Editions Priced Way Too High

You gotta give Sony credit for maintaining a consistent strategy: Price Sony products higher than competing products. That’s what I thought after reading and then re-reading the information in this ZDNet live blog from Sony’s Reader product announcements yesterday…

Liveblog: Sony announces $399 7″ Wi-Fi 3G e-book Reader; will it kill the Kindle?

The $299.99 Reader Touch Edition has the same price as Amazon’s Kindle 2. While the Reader Touch Edition has a touch screen interface, it lacks a 3G wireless service. The unreleased Reader Daily Edition will be priced at $399.99, have a touch screen and 3G wireless access. But, oh yes, both of them do not use an ebook store that millions of people are familiar and comfortable with – Amazon.com. And, what about the $199.99 Reader Pocket Edition? Exactly! What about it? I don’t care

Sony missed the pricing boat with this line up. Here’s how they should have priced these ebook readers to compete with the Kindle:

Reader Pocket Edition = $99.99
Reader Touch Edition = $174.99
Reader Daily Edition = $249.99

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.